''Chakapa'' (sometimes spelled ''shakapa'' or Latinized to ''shacapa'') is a

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

word for a shaker or rattle constructed of bundled leaves. Bushes of the genus ''

Pariana ''Pariana'' is a genus of tropical American plants in the grass family Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bambo ...

'' provide the leaves for the chakapa. ''Chakapa'' is also the

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

for these bushes.

Curandero A ''curandero'' (, healer; f. , also spelled , , f. ) is a traditional native healer or shaman found primarily in Latin America and also in the United States. A curandero is a specialist in traditional medicine whose practice can either contra ...

s (healers) and other

shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

of the

Shipibo-Conibo people The Shipibo-Conibo are an indigenous people along the Ucayali River in the Amazon rainforest in Peru. Formerly two groups, the Shipibo and the Conibo, they eventually became one distinct tribe through intermarriage and communal ritual and are cu ...

in the

Peruvian Amazon Peruvian Amazonia ( es, Amazonía del Perú) is the area of the Amazon rainforest included within the country of Peru, from east of the Andes to the borders with Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil and Bolivia. This region comprises 60% of the country and ...

use the chakapa in healing ceremonies. In an

ayahuasca AyahuascaPronounced as in the UK and in the US. Also occasionally known in English as ''ayaguasca'' (Spanish-derived), ''aioasca'' (Brazilian Portuguese-derived), or as ''yagé'', pronounced or . Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' descen ...

ceremony, for example, a curandero may shake the chakapa around the patient while singing an

icaro Icaro ( qu, ikaro) is a South American indigenous colloquialism for magic song. Today, this term is commonly used to describe the medicine songs performed in '' vegetal'' ceremonies, especially by shamans in ayahuasca ceremonies. It is also comm ...

(healing song). The sound of the chakapa is said to comfort patients in an ayahuasca ceremony and "cleans" the energy surrounding the patient. Shaman have a large variety of chakapa movements that create different sounds and energy waves; these movements match the coinciding icaro and healing that is being done at the time. Some people report seeing green, blue, and gold ribbons of light form around the chakapa, and then move in tendrils about the room. The chakapa is also an important cleansing tool used during '' venteadas'' and ''arcanas''. In the Amazon, once the shaman catches the bad spirits in a chakapa, it is then blown out of the leaves into the forest. The spirits are distributed and taken in by all nature such as trees and plants. A chakapa is made by tying together the leaves from the bush in a fashion that forms a fan shaped instrument. (See picture)

Folklore

The

Woodland Cree The ''Saāwithiniwak'' or Woodland Cree, are a Cree people, calling themselves Nîhithaw in their own dialect of the language. They are the largest indigenous group in northern Alberta and are an Algonquian people. Prior to the 18th century, th ...

have a legend about a great hunter named Chakapas. The legend talks about how Chakapas trapped the moon so that it did not shine anymore. Since the brightness of the moon was gone, the Indians had problems with traveling between seasons because they could not see as easily. They begged Chakapas to let the moon go, but Chakapa could not get close enough to the moon to release it. He used the help of mice to set it free. A brave mouse chewed the cords that tied the moon. It left him burned which is the Indians explanation for mice having a light grey belly. The moon was eventually set free and the shadow of Chakapas remains on the moon to this day.

Notes

Shamanism of the Americas {{spirituality-stub